HB ON THE SCENE: La Quinta Intros New Del Sol Prototype

These are shortcuts to your favorite social networking and bookmark sites. Add this story to your Facebook page, del.icio.us, DiggIt, and many others!

La Quinta's new Del Sol prototype.

NEW YORK—La Quinta Holdings Inc., owner, operator and franchisor of La Quinta Inn & Suites and La Quinta Inn, launched a new prototype design called Del Sol, which combines iconic brand elements with streamlined architecture, according to the company. This announcement was made during the 36th Annual New York University Hospitality Investment Conference being held at the Marriott Marquis, here.

According to the company, the prototype is designed to maximize revenue-per-sq.-ft. while maintaining a competitive cost per key.

The design includes a highly visible placement of the La Quinta name on the building, along with the outreaching rays of the La Quinta sun logo. Inside, a great room serves as a multifunctional area for social gatherings or as a place of connectivity with the integration of advanced technology.

Among the features incorporated into the new Del Sol design are a guestroom mix to include at least 20% suites, separated breakfast serving area that enables use of the great room as a lounge and a conference/meeting facility designed to accommodate 40-plus attendees.

“This new Del Sol prototype is part of La Quinta’s overall business strategy to innovate for the benefit of our guests and hotel owners,” said Rajiv Trivedi, La Quinta’s chief development officer. “It is a dramatic composition of shapes, color and texture that creates a façade that is bold and inviting. The adaptable and scalable footprint optimizes the site and fully maximizes ROI potential offering a competitive advantage for hotel owners. To date, we already have 14 franchise partners planning to build this new innovative hotel design.”

Return Of Group Business Trumpeted At ALIS
The theme of this year’s ALIS conference was “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” But, lets face it, there are always going to be some people who aren’t happy unless they are worried about something—whether it’s the Fed potentially raising interest rates or that the price of oil is now too low, threatening to cripple the economies of some foreign nations.